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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Perfect Effect, MotoBot RC - Review

Since 2006, Transformers fans have enjoyed the classics. Updated versions of G1 characters issued by Hasbro throughout the Classics, Universe, "Reveal the Shield" and Generations lines. That also includes remolds and a few exclusives from Hasbro's Asian counterpart, Takara, via the "Henkei! Henkei!" and United lines. These lines have appeared between movie & animated TV show tie-ins lines so it can be understandably frustrating to complete the line. While you can find modern versions of nearly all the major G1 characters, you would be hard-pressed to find a "classics" Arcee figure.

That's where the third party market steps in and gives you a few options. Previously, iGear and Impossible Toys have delivered versions of "G1" Arcee, Delicate Warrior and Valkyrie, respectively. By the time I started assembling my classics TF collection last year obtaining iGear's Arcee homage was too costly. I gave Impossible Toys version a shot, but it was a turd and ended up going back to BBTS. It seemed all hope for a classic Arcee was lost, until Perfect Effect unveiled their "MotoBot" series...

Please note: the Autobot logo on her chest is not included with the figure. I added a Repro Labels decal to give her her team affiliation logo.

PE's Arcee takes some design cues from the IDW version of the character (itself an update of the G1 Arcee) and as such has a quasi-familiar G1 look to her. She's petite, but robust at the same time. She doesn't look weak. The articulation is really impressive on RC. She moves at all the major points and then some. You'd have to compare to the Toy Biz Marvel Legends line instead of even modern Transformers to make a fair comparison.

A significant part of RC's appeal is her compliment of weapons. You can tell Perfect Effect really strived to deliver an awesome toy and not just a cash-grab stand-in for a modern Arcee figure. The intro pic reveals all of the various pieces included with RC (minus her snap-on visor, I have no idea where I put it!), but you can see how several of the pieces combine to form her sniper rifle.

Her blaster pistols and swords can be stored on the removable backpack, which doubles as the seat for her vehicle mode. Getting the guns on to the tabs isn't hard, but one of them is very difficult to remove afterwards. The swords just slide, blade-first, into slots on either side of the backpack.

The jets/wings are also removable, fitting on either side of the backpack and sitting on their own independent hinge/swivels, so you can extend them out or pull them back to give her a sleeker look. Of course, removing them completely will give you a truer G1 look.

The wings make up a larger portion of RC's vehicle mode more than any of the other accessories. When unfolded they form the side panels of the motorcycle RC converts into.

The conversion process isn't overly complicated but a few spots can lead to some aggravation until you're used to the various joints involved. For the most part her legs split apart then bend at the knees to form the front and rear wheels. Her head tucks away into the torso, while the arms line up side-by-side behind her. The torso turns to line up with one of the wheels (at this point, it doesn't really matter which way). One that's done, you pretty much have her in motorcycle mode and only need to put away the accessories and plug in her side panels to finish her up.

For the vehicle mode, the swords fold at the hilt and fit into the slots where the fins stick out of on the wings when she's in robot mode. The barrel of her rifle retracts into the "cannon" portion and that piece fits between the bottome edges of the side panels. Evertying else is either stored internally or plugs on to the arms to form the seat and rear portion of the motorcyle. The pegs that held her robot wings flip out to form the motorcycles handles.

Her motorcycle mode is obviously more "Cybertronian" than Earth-inspired. I'm cool with that since Arcee's G1 alt mode was of an extra-terrestrial design. In this mode she has a kickstand, however it doesn't work very well. For my pics I had to jam a folded piece of cardstock between the rear wheel and lower half in order to keep her upright.

RC is definitely a very nice and passable stand-in for a "Classics" Arcee, however she's not without her faults. While the quality & design of the toy is excellent I did have a couple of issues. When I first transformed the figure I snapped one of the silver stirrup-like pieces over her feet. The pieces are connected to the leg at each end and aren't thick enough to withstand the pressure necessary to rotate them. So one snapped while I was trying to move it into place for the transformation.

Recommendation: grip the piece at each side, where it connects to the leg, then rotate it.

The second problem I had was her left hand broke off at the wrist. I was simply rotating it when it broke clean off at the section that wraps around the hinge pin. I don't think I was using too much force, but I'm guessing the joint was a bit too tight, putting too much stress on the plastic. I was able to reconnect it with some glue and preserved the articulation.

I ordered my MotoBot RC from Robot Kingdom because they had the lowest price and adding a couple of other items helped make the shipping cost worth it. I'm overall happy with the purchase, she looks great with the rest of the classic G1 season 3 team and is a fantastic toy if a bit fragile.

Perfect Effect released a "Battle Version" along with this pink RC, that features a blue and black color scheme similar to Arcee's Transformers Prime incarnation. It also represents RC's "cyber-self" that appears in the included comic/instruction manual. While I'm in no rush to purchase that one, I definitely would if I could find her for a great price (i.e. $50 - 60). What I'm really looking forward to is PE's upcoming, Black Arachnia-inspired, MotoBot PE-DX2 figure. I don't think they've released an official release date or pricing, yet, but I'm assuming it'll be around the same price. That will be a sure-buy for me thanks mainly to this release.

2 comments:

A friend of mine poured over the different 3rd party "Arcees" before deciding on this MotoBot. Having seen her in person I can agree that it's a pretty cool toy. I love how it looks alongside her fellow '86 Autobots.